While
most alternative energy advocates and critics focus their attention on
macro-solar power -- vast
fields of panels or collecting dishes -- there has also been a lot of
recent growth in micro-solar power (using solar cells to recharge portable
devices).

The U.S. Marines has
just completed a test of new solar-powered gear in the field in Afghanistan.
The new equipment was trialed by India Company, a component of 3rd
Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. The test lasted three weeks and took the
company through Sangin, one of the deadliest regions in southern Afghanistan.

I. A Deadly Dependency

Today the U.S. military is unmatched in terms of destructive power and killing
efficiency. But the technology involved giving that kind of performance
mandates lengthy (and vulnerable) supply chains and overburdened troops.

Batteries alone take up 20 percent of the 100-pound load the average Marine
carries in the field. And fuel also accounts for a significant amount of
the load. Soldiers use a portable generator to power their laptops and
other electronics in the field. A soldier today uses four times the fuel
they did in the early 1990s.

The high fuel demand from deployed troops requires a constant supply train of
fuel trucks. It is estimated that 30 percent of all fuel transported into
Afghanistan goes to powering the U.S. military. And many of the military
fatalities have arisen from fuel trucks hit by the improvised explosive devices
(IEDs) used by local militants.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus testified to
Congress last year that a soldier is wounded or killed for every 24 fuel
convoys in Iraq or Afghanistan. Over the years of deployment in Iraq and
Afghanistan, those casualties have added up, not only in a number of dead
soldiers, but also in soldiers returning with debilitating conditions.

II. A Truly Modern Warrior

Secretary Mabus has vowed to improve the situation in the field for his troops.
He has called on Navy scientists to design cutting edge gear for the
armed forces that reduces the reliance on fossil fuel supplies and batteries.

The new gear pack, just tested, includes a roll-up solar panel of thin film
solar cells. The panel provides enough juice under the hot south-Asian
sun to power GPS units, radios, laptops, and other devices.

The results are 10 years in the making.

The armed forces first began considering solar gear in 2001. But interest
picked up when in 2006 Marine Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, then commander of the
1st Marine Expeditionary Force, called for solar gear to support forward bases
in the war-torn Anbar province, west of Baghdad, Iraq.

In an interview with The
Wall Street Journal, Gen. Zilmer states, "We used to joke that there
was a generator for every man, woman and child in Iraq. And we did not have any
material solutions to the issues we had out there."

Gen. Zilmer's request fell on deaf ears and more casualties piled up. But
a similar request in 2008 spurred the Navy to
action and this time the Marines came
onboard as well. Col. Bob Charette, a former F-18 pilot, opened the
Marine Expeditionary Energy Office to transfer Navy energy technology to Marine
gear. Col. Charette states, "The Marine commandant made it
clear—he'd rather have an 80% solution today than a 100% solution somewhere
down the road."

III. Mission Success

Like MacGyver, the Navy and Marines worked to do the best with what they had.
Within 9 months they'd created a heavy solar/battery combo pack capable
of being loaded onto Humvees, which included jury-rigged power meters,
purchased from the Home Depot, Inc. (HD). This heavy pack would
power more demanding field gear. Each soldier was also issued a rollable
solar mat to power small electronics.

The first test of the gear just wrapped up and the results appear very
promising. The solar-equipped warriors required dramatically less battery
resupply (typically delivered by helicopters in the field) and fewer fuel
trucks. As they carried less weight, they were able to carry extra ammo
-- potentially life-saving in an intense firefight.

Maj. Sean Sadlier, the Marine expeditionary energy liaison officer at Camp
Leatherneck in Afghanistan says that for platoons at remote outposts, solar
power can be the only source of energy in some cases. The latest test
shows that replacing battery and fuel stocks with solar makes sense even at
marginally suppliable locations.

The next real test will be to develop larger solar rechargers capable of
servicing a large formation, like India Company's parent battalion.
Officers say that device could see completion and deployment by the
summer.

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I've made this prediction in other threads. Syria is an indication of our future role. But I'll add that our involvement will be less than that. Don't be surprised if we say no even if asked to be involved. It's none of our friggin business what's happens in other sovereign nations.

If it were up to me, I'd shut down all of the foreign bases too (except Japan...we have an agreement with them to provide military support) and pull those troops back here. Maybe some future president will have the same idea.

I totally agree with you. I don't think we have any business being in all these nations. I hope that all changes. The only military I think that should be docked somewhere would be Navy since they travel the seas and would need to dock for fuel and supplies.

quote: The only military I think that should be docked somewhere would be Navy since they travel the seas and would need to dock for fuel and supplies.

The Navy's role is a little different than other armed forces in that part of their mission is power projection. A lesser, unwritten role is serving as "ambassadors". I think that's very valuable. I also believe in trade as that serves to keep the friendly nations friendly. And reduce some hostility from the more hostile one's (China).

You will find that most of our bases in foreign countries are there by agreement. Germany went ape shit when we talked about closing many of our bases there now that the cold war is over and Russia is no longer a threat to them. The amount of money sent to Germany to keep bases there is quite helpful to their economy, not to mention all the money spent by US troops in the local communities near the bases.

My brother has a solar panel to recharge the batteries for his boats trolling motor. Stuck to the side of his garage with a wire that charges the batteries. Easy now days to do this type of thing.

Kinda surprised to see that individuals in the field were not ordering the parts personally to do it when the people in the bureaucracy couldn't, although I guess that is exactly where the "Home Depot" parts probably came from.

quote: True, but when my non technical brother finds it easy to do this type of thing, why isn't our military on it like fleas on a dog?

Because you just don't get much energy from solar. The trolling motor experiences infrequent use. Your brother probably uses it for a few hours every week. That's 84 hours of sunshine for maybe 5 hours of use. If the motor's battery is 12V 100 Amp-hr, that's 4.32 MJ. A half-meter solar panel providing 10 Watts average (15% capacity factor) over 24 hours can top that off in 5 days.

The picture changes dramatically when you need to charge devices you use daily. My laptop has a 57 Watt-hr battery (205,200 J), which lasts about 5 hours. Charging it at 10 Watts with the above half-meter panel would require 5.7 hours, or nearly a quarter of the energy budget from the panel every day. Now add in radios, GPS, PDA/phone, communications aids, night vision gear, camera, etc. You're quickly going to need several square meters of solar panels per soldier.

I was going to buy a 1/3rd m^2 panel for a friend of mine doing Peace Corp in Africa so she could use rechargeable AA batteries. After conversion losses, the panel could on average charge 8 AA batteries a day. Like I said, the energy density of solar is very low. You only resort to it when you absolutely have to, like in regions that are totally off the grid.

(Incidentally, 4.32 MJ for the trolling motor battery is 1.2 kWh, or about 14 cents worth of electricity. So if the panel cost your brother $150, it would take him 20.5 years to recoup its purchase price taking the boat out once a week.)

All good points, but in the instance of having limited power via solar or none at all, it looks like the Marines are going for it. I am not sure what all the devices they use there that need power. I have a friend that I could ask (Marine), but he is currently deployed to Afghanistan. Some of these devices may need light to moderate daily charging.

quote: Incidentally, 4.32 MJ for the trolling motor battery is 1.2 kWh, or about 14 cents worth of electricity. So if the panel cost your brother $150, it would take him 20.5 years to recoup its purchase price taking the boat out once a week.

While you are correct about him using the boat on the weekend, part of the advantage to solar was not having to run conduit and line, plus adding an extra breaker. Screw the panel down, drill the hole for the wire, drop into place.... Pays off much quicker that way when there is less hassle factor involved.

Wow, really? I look at Solar power in the field replacing batteries fo Night Vision Goggles, Reflex Sites, Radios, etc. We had solar panels to keep our Hmmwv batteries topped off, but that was it. I think it would be great to get enough panels so that they could power creature comfort, ie, laptops, video games, music, stuff for downtime; dare I say A/C. I will personally guarantee you that "going green" NEVER came up in these conversations.